Method of spotting crown caps



Oct. 8, 1940. F J, Q'BmEN METHOD 0F SPOTTING. CROWN CAPS Filed Aug. 2, 1937 Patented Oct. 8, 1940 UNITED y STATES PATENT ori-ICE f METHOD 'or sPo'rnNG cnowN cars Frank J. orien, Pelham, N. Y., assignmto continental Can Company, Inca New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application August 2,

3 Claims.

crown caps directly after the assembling of said units.

y In the bottling of beer and similar beverages it is customary'to seal the bottles or cans with crown caps equipped with pads of cork or suitable yieldable sealing material faced with an impervious liner disk of. aluminum or other foil or treated paper so as to prevent direct contact between the beverage andthe pad and also to prevent leakage of gases. Such disks preferably are of the center spot type and are smaller in di- 20 `ameter than the pads so as to protect the beverage from pad contact and yet permit sealing contact between the container pouring neck and an annulus of the more effective sealing material of the pad. A p Various methods of forming and amxing the center spots have been devised, but all such methods of which I am aware applied the spots to previously assembled caps and pads, and no one has attempted, heretofore, to rst aflix the center spots" to the pads and thereafter insert Vthe pads into the crown caps. The previously known methods of forming spotted caps which seem to have proven most successful are those which employ heat fusible cement in the aiiixing of the spots, but in these methods the crown -caps or the pads therein had to be heated prior 4to the assembly of the "spotsfv in order to fuse the cement on the spots and this preheating often proved objectionable. Invmy improved method f this objectionable preheating is avoided by provision of a novel two-stage or temporary, then perjmanent adhesive union.

v According to my improved method, pads of cork or other suitable sealing material are fed along station-to-station. At` one station a drop or small dal of a suitable adhesive is applied to lthe exposed face of the pad, at another station a spot coated with heat fusible adhesive .is applied to the adhesive ybearing/surface of the pad to be temporarily united therewith, said "spot" preferably being formed and applied by a cold punch, and at another vstation avhot plungerfis pressed against the temporarily assembled "spot and pad to fuse the cement carried by the spot an'd apply pressure Ato permanently unite said 1937, Serial No. 157,042

spot and pad. 'Ihe spots" preferably are thus assembled with the pads before the pads are inserted into crown caps, and after the pad and spo units are' thus assembled they are stacked for insertion into crown caps at a future time, -5 or they may be directly inserted into the crown caps by use of eitherhot or cold plungers.

With the above and other objects in view which will more fully appear, the nature of the invening the description, the appended claims, and theseveral views illustrated in the accompanying drawing. f

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic longitudinal ,sec- 15 tion showing the various steps of my improvedV method.

Figure 1A is a diagrammatic longitudinal section illustrating a modified step of the invention in which the assembled pads and spots are -directly inserted into crown caps instead of being stacked.

Figure 2 is a vertical cross section taken at the "spot" punching station.

In the drawing 5 designates a table, or other suitable support, and 5 a conveyor for the sealing pads 1 of cork or other suitable material. The conveyor 6 may take the form of a rotary disk or plate, a nger bar or even an endless belt having suitably spaced apertures or seats 8 therein for accommodating the pads or disks 'I. Movement is imparted to the conveyor by any approved means for advancing the pads 'I step-bysteppor from station-'to-station.

Five such stations areV diagrammatically indicated in the drawing and designated #L #2, #3, #I and #5. At station #I the pads 1 are fed oneby-one into the conveyor seatsl 8l from a supply -magazine 9. As each pad reaches station #2 a dropor dab III of adhesive is applied centrally of the exposed surface thereof `by a dropper, squirt pump, fountain or any other suitable lform of applicator designated Il. Positioned at station #3 is a die I2 and a reciprocable cold punch I3, and as each pad is brought beneath this equipment a center spotf' is cold-punched from a strip I5 of fusible-adhesive-coated material, preferably aluminum foil, and applied in centered relationl to the underlying pad I and on the adhesive Adabbed surface of. said pad.v The center spot is' thus temporarily united with the pad and held against movement relative thereto during travel of said pad away from station #3.

The foil strip I5 may be supplied from a roll 55 tion will be more clearly understood by follow- 10 I6 and drawn, step-by-step, over the dieI I2 by suitably driven feed rolls I1. Upon reaching station #4, the temporarily assembled pad and center spot unit is pressed by a hot plunger I8, the heat and pressure serving to fuse the adhesive borne by the pad engaging face of the center spotA I4 and permanently unite said pad and spot. The duration of the heat and pressure application may be varied as may be found desirable in order to obtain the most perfect union obtainable.

The pad and center spot units are next successively fed to a stacking station #5 Where they are stacked, preferably under pressure, by any suitable mechanism. In this diagrammatic illustration I have shown an upright stack or magazine I9 into which the pad a-nd center spot units are forced, one-by-one by the plunger 20 reciprocable through the support aperture 2l. A Weight 22 will suflice to hold the units under pressure. The assembled units may thus cool and permanently set, under pressure, in the stack- In Figure 1A of the drawing I have illustrated a modied step of my improved method in which the assembled pad and center spot units are directly inserted into crown caps, instead of being stacked. A hot or cold plunger 23 may be mounted at station #5A to reciprocate through the support aperture 2|, and a suitable carrier 24 may be movably mounted beneath said aperture and equipped With seating means 25 Afor crown caps 26. Each time the pad and center spot unit conveyor 6 brings a unit over the aperture 2| at station 5A the plunger 23 Will be reciprocated to strip the unit from the conveyor and insert it into the crown cap 26 supported therebeneath.

As has been previously stated, any suitable 40 mechanism may be employed in practicing the method herein disclosed without departing from the scope of the invention as dened in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. The method of assembling cap pads and center spots which comprises positioning indidividual sealing pads, applying a dab of adhesive to each pad,coldpunching and applying a center spot of fusible adhesive coated material to the adhesive dabbed face of each pad to temporarily unite said pads and center spots, and pressing each "center spot with a hlot plunger to fuse the fusible adhesive coating of the center spots and permanently unite said pads and center spots.

2. The method of assembling cap pads and heat flusible adhesive coated center spots JWhch comprises positioning a pad, aixing a center spot to the pad by application of heat and pressure, promptly stacking the assembled pads and center spot units, and applying pressure to the stacked pad and spot assemblies to maintain the intimate adhesion of the pads and spots as they cool.

3. The method of assembling cap pads and center spots which comprises moving successive sealing pads station-to-station, applying a dab of adhesive to each pad at one station, coldpunching and applying a center spot of fusible adhesive coated material to the adhesive dabbed face of each pad at another station to temporarily unite said pads and center spots, applying a hot plunger to the temporarily united pads and spots at another station in order to more permanently unite them, promptly stacking the successively united pad and center spot units, and applying pressure to the stacked pad and spot assemblies to maintain the intimate adhesion of the pads and spotsas they cool.

FRANK J. OOBRIEN. 

